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Although I am completely new to this board, I have some experience growing our little fungal friends (only on straw though). One of my main concerns of growing is trying to get the most yield/area. I have an interesting idea that I'd love to get some of your opinions about. Of course, the idea is probably far from original.
When you look at pictures of cakes (PF style) you notice that mushrooms grow out from the sides and then up (I'm guessing they're phototropic). What if we made pressed "cakes" of colonized straw (flat slabs about 2 sq. ft. area and a couple of inches thick) and placed them on their thin sides in a terrarium about 8 inches apart? Both sides of the substrate would start fruiting and the mushrooms would grow upwards forming a wall of mushies. The straw wouldn't be cased (straw seems to work well without casings) and humidity would be controlled with perlite filled trays soaked with water left at the bottom between the substrate walls. Humidity could be adjusted by removing or adding the trays.
This would save space because we would be putting 2-3 times the amount of substrate surface within the given area. More vertical space would be required but not by much since alot of the mushies would be growing up parallel to the substrate. Terrariums are usually quite tall anyways to allow mushroom growth, and most large tupperware bins have wasted vertical space.
Also, it would be easy to have holes in the bottom of the terrarium which would be a better form of passive vetilation since CO2 is heavier than air.
Do you guys think it'll work?
Wastematron

It works quiet well actually. My friend had a A-Strain casing that became dryed out. When she checked on it, the fruit were coming from the sides, So she grabbed the entire "straw Mat" and turned it on it's side after she raked off the hardened layer. Then she had fruit growing from the top, sides, bottom, LOL everywhere. You only get one or two flushes though, but you get alot. You need to keep the growing area VERY humid though because with the "raw" substrate layer showing, the straw can dry our very quickly.:)bluhoney

--------------------Information listed here is for entertainment only and is neither real or proven